This book was so much more than I was expecting. Romance, humor, friendship and family, but it also tackled some major life issues with grace. Sophie is a romance writer whose never been in love. So she puts herself out there trying to figure out what went wrong. Dash is focusing hard on staying sober amidst his family's desire for him to get back to acting. He's got a hobby that's just for him and he's pretty happy.

After a drunken night and an unfortunate viral tiktok video, Dash and Sophie end up spending more time together and getting to know one another. Sophie helps Dash with a speech and Dash helps Sophie with the info she gains from her exes. They slowly realize that they both want more but it's complicated. Dash is her best friend Poppy's brother. And her neighbor. It was so unbelievable sweet to watch them take care of each other.

Alcohol addiction is a hard, serious issue, and I felt like it was really well done in that it felt real and honest, and the struggle wasn't sugar coated. It's messy and uncertain. But so is real life, and that's one of the things I loved the most about this book.

I thought this was an okay romance.

What I liked:
- I thought the author did a great job of showing the struggles of alcoholism and how it impacts the people around them
- I loved the idea of Sophie meeting with her exes (no matter what cringe it might be) and figuring out she may be the problem as well. I did think she evolved throughout the book and became a better version of herself.
- I did enjoy the family drama as well as the stalking situation.
What I didn't like
- The pacing of the romance is what impacted my feelings toward the book. I felt like things were rushed in the way. It went from them barely speaking to each other to friends with benefits to BAM I'm in love. But I just couldn't connect.
- Poppy and Nina were annoying. I guess they were your stereotypical Californian.

Finally, I thought the writing was good.

What to expect:
- Best Friend Brother
- Friend with benefits
- Alcoholism
- One bed

Thank you so much Netgalley and Harlequin Trading Publishing for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I always love romance books with bi/pan characters, even if they end up in a hetero relationships. I loved that in Sophie's exploration of exes, they were so varied. It felt well thought out as opposed to exes that fit the same model.

The frank discussions of addiction recovery was also a nice addition to the depth of the characters. The chemistry between Dash and Sophie was palpable, but I do wish the steamy scenes were longer and more thorough, they felt rushed.

What a compulsive, cute read! I absolutely loved Sophie & Dash's relationship and their development over the course of the novel; the combination between sexy and sweet was great. Both Sophie and Dash had their own personal issues to deal with outside of their romance - trust issues and alcoholism, respectively - that were handled delicately and thoroughly, but they never overpowered the main romantic plot line. As much as I enjoy celebrity romance novels, they are sometimes a hit and miss with me. Plot Twist by Erin La Sala is a huge hit.

I enjoyed the author's debut last year, so I was surprised that I ended up liking Plot Twist even more!

This one follows Sophie Lyons who is a romance author with writer's block. When a video of her drunkenly admitting that she's never been in love, she decides to meet some of her exes to see what went wrong in their relationships and discover why she never fell in love. And perhaps this might help her overcome her writer's block too.
Her best friend's brother Dash Montrose - a former indie movie star, is inadvertently roped into helping her as he gives her tips on how to navigate social media and TikTok. Dash's family members are famous actors, but he isn't too interested in continuing down this road. He's been lying low while trying to maintain his sobriety and working on his crafting(pottery) hobby. But this changes as Sophie and Dash grow closer but neither of them seems to be ready for a relationship...

Not only did this one have a cute and fun plot but I ended up loving the flawed but realistic characters too! Sophie's character development was my favorite as she ends up realizing so much more about herself - and her sister and her bff were very honest with her when she needed a reality check while she was being avoidant. It was hard not to fall for Dash too! I felt so sorry for him and his struggles. There were a few twists that surprised both me and Dash but it was handled in a good way! My favorite was Dash and Sophie's relationship as they helped each other while growing individually too. Also the spice in this one was 🔥🔥🔥
Anyway this was such a fun and steamy romance with realistic characters that I ended up loving and I think others would enjoy it too!❣️✨

I gave this book 3.5 stars but then rounded it down to 3 because rounding it up to 4 felt too much.

I enjoyed this book immensely until about the 65% – 70% mark. The two main characters were charming and engaging, I felt their spark and attraction to each other, and I had a great time seeing them interact. But then it started to kind of peter out for me. I still really like Sophie and Dash, but the situations surrounding them seemed… forced and too tropey. It was kind of a situation where some of the tropes were happening to them and it wasn’t organic.

I also wasn’t a fan of how some of the side characters were almost like caricatures of themselves. I just… couldn’t take them seriously as humans? The exes seemed stereotypical and some were just there purely for humor and window dressing. One was even there just to create a conflict between Sophie and another character that probably has never even met that ex! Just… odd.

My full review is over at my blog: monicareadsthrough.com.

This is a contemporary romance that leans on the “celebrities deserve private lives and happiness” trope; it is also the second in the author’s Hollywood series and, unless she’s been published under another name before, only her second book.

The story is narrated in third person, past tense, alternating in point of view between the two main characters: Dash, a thirty six year old former teen idol, scion of a film dynasty and recovering alcoholic; and Sophie, a romance author with writer’s block and a serious immaturity problem.

Beware: alcoholism; heart disease; explicit language; death of parents; strained family relationship; pansexual protagonist.

Note: Sophie is pansexual, one of her exes is non-binary, and another is the married straight son of two still-happily-married moms; which is to say, queer acceptance all over the place, and yay for that. Also, Sophie has a pacemaker.

However.

I have said recently that I have been struggling with contemporary romance, and this book is a perfect example of why: I gave up at 31% into the ARC.

Sophie gave up on an actual job because writing is the one and only thing that makes her happy–don’t ask me how she survived long enough to write, query, and sell her first book, which for many authors can take years; if it’s explained, it came after I quit reading. At any rate, with one book out, she has blown all deadlines to deliver the second to the publisher, and now has six weeks to either turn the finished manuscript in, or refund her advance–most of which she’s already spent.

Her reaction is to call her best friend and have a public drunken meltdown, wherein Sophie confesses that she “has never been in love”. But here’s the thing: apparently for Sophie, saying “I love you” to someone is the same as actually loving that person; conversely, if you don’t say those words, you never felt that emotion.

Very adult, much mature.

And guess what? All the people in her life–her older sister, her best friend, Dash–they all nod wisely as if it made sense.

But it gets better: Sophie’s solution to writer’s block and a short six weeks left to write a whole novel or be in serious legal and financial trouble, is to contact “all her exes” to figure out why she never told them “I love you”–and document that in her newly-created TikTok channel, because something something social media presence.

How this will actually get a book written is handwaved, because of course it is.

Meanwhile, we have Dash, who apparently lives off residuals or something, since it’s been quite a bit since his last acting job, but other than renting the ‘guest house’ in his property to Sophie, he doesn’t seem to ever worry about money. The emphasis with him is his struggle to remain sober, without more support than that of the AA sponsor that he met, by chance, at his local meeting.

Here’s my problem with Dash: despite being relatively close to his younger sister, and not being estranged from his parents or older brother, he will fake drinking alcohol at their Sunday family dinners rather than tell them he’s quit drinking, or why he resists their “well-meaning” (aka, super pushy) efforts to get him into a movie–any movie.

And Dash muses that not going back to acting is the only way to “save his life”, which would indicate that his alcoholism was a very serious problem until he finally quit, however long ago, and that no one in his family noticed it–which strains credulity.

To be fair, maybe it is revealed later in the book they are all aware of this and pretend not to know (in which case, offering him alcohol during Sunday dinners is cruel).

I got through Sophie meeting with two of her exes (neither of whom is the Carla of the blurb, by the by), where it becomes clear that she’s a people pleaser and that her relationships are extra shallow on both sides; but at the point where, because plot reasons, she and Dash have to share a bed, I realized I didn’t care.

I hope that Dash finds a way to tell his family about his alcoholism, and that they care enough about him to be supportive rather than the alternative, and I suppose that his HEA must include Sophie, but I just couldn’t keep reading. Having a woman in her thirties behaving like a twelve year old was more than I could take.

Plot Twist is a DNF for me.

I can never resist a friend with benefits situation where you know from the beginning there's going to be something more. This is one of my favorite romance tropes and Plot Twist does it so well. I knew I was going to love Dash, who wouldn't love someone who is on crafttok, loaded with family secrets, and trying to also focus on himself. Whereas Sophie is kind of a mess, we love her, but she's at a very low point in her life where she knows something has to change.

I enjoyed this book! I don't think the writing style is for me but I feel like it would be great for someone else!!

Sophie Lyon, romance author, hot mess, and victim to a viral video of her drunkenly confessing she has never been in love. It is not that Sophie hasn't dated, she has had a handful of relationships in her time, but none of them worked out. She is way past due on the deadline of her next novel and on the verge of losing her career. In comes her landlord Dash Montrose, her best friend's brother, and former teen throb actor, who gives her the idea of capitalizing on her viral fame. Sophie is going to meet up with her exes and find out why it didn't work out between them while documenting it all on social media, and maybe getting over her writer's block and rekindling something with an ex. Dash is dealing with his own issues, with alcohol and his sobriety, and a family that is Hollywood royalty. As Sophie and Dash start to get closer, will their issues hold them back, or will they learn they are both worthy of love.

I love a good best friend's brother romance and this one did not disappoint. This was miles better than the first novel in this series. I really felt the chemistry between the characters, and the banter was wonderful. I loved the more serious topics explored in this one, and though I don't know for sure the addict representation felt authentic. And honestly Dash really did it for me in general, and the cover art especially.

This book was cute, and i liked the idea of it, but the constant conversation about tiktok and social media really pulled me out of the story, I wanted to be immersed in it, but I struggled a lot to focus.

A romance novelist looking for her happily ever after - who could resist?
Plot Twist was everything I wanted it to be and so much more. It covers difficult subjects beautifully - from strained family relationships, to addiction, La Rosa manages to be respectful and honest about the hard things while balancing it with light and sarcasm.
The representation in this book is also incredible to see. We get a plus size FMC, a male love interest with artistic and creative hobbies, and several women in positions of power and leadership.
There is so much to love about this book. The characters are funny and flawed, the dialogue is witty and real, and the communication and growth between characters is so heart warming. Plot Twist shows the importance of introspection and asking for what you want and need from a partner.
All in all, Plot Twist is a beautiful mix of serious and steamy that will have you falling in love faster than Dash can down a bag of candy.
Thank you to Erin La Rosa and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC!

A modern, funny, SPICY, easy-read romance. I really liked both of the main characters and was quickly invested; their daily struggles were real and relatable. The story did feel somewhat cheesy and rushed at times and I didn’t love how superficial some of the relationships seemed. I wanted a little bit more but overall I really did enjoy this book!

★★★☆

I enjoyed the premises of this story and the tropes involved. Sophie and Dash were really good together. Their story touches on some topics that can be sensitive to some such as alcoholism and dysfunctional families.

Sophie is on a time crunch and must finish her romance novel in six weeks. But there is a problem: she's found herself battling writer's block. She has also found that her lack of love in previous relationships may be a factor as to why she cannot write. Sophie has also gone viral on TT for her confession of it. Therefore, in a journey to get herself out of writer's block, she reaches out to her exes to figure out where things went wrong. Though Dash is not one of her exes, he becomes closer to Sophie in her journey.

Dash is a former teen actor, heartthrob, and ongoing recovering alcoholic. He has been making arts and crafts on TT anonymously and supporting Sophie on her videos. He offers to help her in her journey to find love and whatnot. They both don't admit that they want each other past being friends with benefits. He doesn't believe that he's good enough for her. She gets confused about her feelings.

Though I did enjoy this story for what it was, I found myself skimming in some areas (and even skipping). I don't know if it was because it dragged on too long or if it was because I haven't read in the third person in a while. And for the readers who absolutely hate social media mentions in books, this one mentions TT alot.

☞︎︎︎𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔+𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔☜︎︎︎
• artistic romance (former actor x author)
• love triangle
• grumpy x sunshine
• best friend's brother
• close prox
• friends with benefits
• LGBTQ+ themes

Synopsis:

Sophie Lyon is a romance author who's never been in love. With a deadline looming, she makes a plan to overcome her writer's block by reuniting with exes to learn why she's never fallen in love and document it for her online followers. Her landlord, Dash Montrose, ex-teenage hearthrob, from a family of Hollywood royalty, has social media figured out and is willing to help. What he doesn't mention is that he's an anonymous online crafter, a hobby that helps maintain his sobriety. As they grow closer, they discover a spark but neither is relationship-ready so they decide on a friends-with-benefits arrangement.

Review:

This was a spicy and entertaining read. I loved the diversity of the characters - Sophie is pansexual and Dash is working on his sobriety. I also enjoyed the landlord-tenant dynamic because they can't help but see each other and it keeps their connection moving. Dash making pottery sounds HOT - why don't more guys do pottery?! I felt frustrated by the Hollywood family because they were very superficial but I can imagine that it might not be far from reality - Dash's mom gave me Kris Jenner vibes. All in all, I enjoyed this book - the perfect amount of spice and romance and heartwarming moments wrapped up into one book!

Thanks to HTP Books for my ARC!

Not so many twists.. Okay so Plot Twist was a cute read. I enjoyed seeing Dash come out of his shell and Sophie learn to ask for what SHE wanted. It just seemed to be missing SOMETHING. There was no build up, forgotten plot lines, and instalove.

I WANTED to like this book SO much! I adored Dash and his storyline, and I loved that the author chose to highlight the struggles of a recovering addict. HOWEVER, I really disliked Sophie and the whole “I need to revisit my exes and find out what I did wrong storyline”.

I was given an ARC by NetGalley and Harlequin. All opinions are my own.

1 star

I wanted to love this book. The synopsis and cover had me sold. But it was not meant to be. I ended up not finishing this book after reading about 50%. It might be a me thing, but I did not enjoy the portrayal of Dashs sobriety. It was very much important to him, but did not seem important to Sophie. I did not enjoy the representation (or lack thereof) of his recovery and how he managed his addiction. I would be willing to try another book from this author without this plot point.

This is another one of those books that will deceive you with it's cute cover. Not only was this hilarious, it was also emotional, difficult, and OH THE SPICE. When their banter and communication is added to spicy scenes it just took them over the top.

Sophie is an author struggling with her second book and facing the realization that she's never been in love - after an embarrassing viral moment she goes on a journey through the past to help the future. Part of that viral debacle brings her closer to her landlord and best friend's older bother Dash. Dash is...struggling. Family pressure and expectations led him down paths that didn't make him happy, and eventually, a struggle with alcohol. When we meet him he's still actively in recovery, but knows how precarious it is. Despite his commitment, his opinion of himself isn't great. The way they fit together, what they bring out and build up in each other, and the way recovery is treated in this book were all so special.

I was delightfully surprised, I teared up, and the best part: I was in love with their love.

This was a cu tee and easy read. Sophie a struggling author with writers block decides to talk to each of her exes to find out what went wrong with their relationship and why she didn’t fall in love and hasn’t to this day. It’s a cute journey and her landlord is her best friends brother who is an ex Actor.

They get talk talking and sparks unexpectedly fly. He has his own personal and family issues that he needs to work on. And together they conquer her book, and those issues. It’s just a cute simple easy read. Nothing too special about it.

I would say this is a 3.5 star book rounded up.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.